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A Review Of 2005 Game Hardware News
Posted by Brandon Gribin Categories: Nintendo DS, Nintendo Gamecube, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PSP, Wii, Xbox, Xbox 360,
Next Generation published an article earlier today that does a good job summarizing what the big three have been up to this year regarding hardware. The article mentions everything from PS2’s $149 fixed price to the Xbox 360’s launch shortages. And naturally, the article also includes talk of Nintendo’s Revolution controller.
While the article doesn’t feature any new content, it’s certainly interesting to look back and see what Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft were up to this year. Reading about what unfolded at this year’s E3 does bring back some fond memories but in all honesty, it just makes us anticipate E3 ‘06 that much more.
Read More 
| Next Generation
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Official: Xbox 360 Backwards Compatible Game List
Posted by Oscar M. Cantu Categories: Corporate News, Xbox, Xbox 360,
Xbox.com has finally published its list of titles that will be backwards compatible when the Xbox 360 launches. More games will be added as time goes by, however, you will need a software emulator to play them. This means that anyone who purchases a core system will need to shell out the extra dough for the memory card at the very least in order to play their old favorites. Interestingly enough, not all of the best sellers are backwards compatible - a quick glance at the list reveals that games like Project Gotham 2, BurnOut 3 (and Revenge), MechAssault, and FIFA 2005 will not be playable out of the gate. Bummer. At least that copy of Yourself!Fitness that you never got around to using is compatible.
Check out the full list after the jump.
Click to continue reading Official: Xbox 360 Backwards Compatible Game List
Ultimate Spider-Man has been out for a few weeks now and I finally got a chance to sit down and play through it. This latest adaptation to the wonderful world of Spidey is cell shaded, which is an automatic plus because it just makes things look better. What’s more, it’s done by the same people who actually make the Ultimate Spider-Man comic book. The gameplay for Ultimate Spider-Man will seem very familiar if you’ve played Spider-Man 2 (The Movie). The game adapts the Grand Theft Auto free roam feature, and the city is quite large. To move on through the story you have to swing around the city completing “City Goals” which consist of helping out the good folks of New York all the way to racing Johnny Storm (Human Torch) of the Fantastic Four. A really fun thing about this game is that you switch characters to get all sides of the story. After completing certain goals the story moves on and you then take over Venom and play through his side of things. The controls in this game are fairly simple: Jump, Kick, Punch, Grab, Swing, Web Shot, etc. so you shouldn’t have a hard time adapting. The game consists of several different Spider-Man baddies like Rhino, Carnage, and Green Goblin. One thing we didn’t like is that the story is shorter than a kids pop-up book. I was able to play through the whole story in less than 10 hours. One glimmer of hope is that once you complete the story mode the game turns into complete free roam and you can pick which character you want to be. I mostly played as Venom at this point in time and it started to remind me of Grand Theft Auto. The more damage/harm you do as Venom the more points you get, and the higher your points go the more calvary gets sent out on you. All in all the game is fun, but semi repetitive if you’ve played through Spider-Man 2.
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Peter Jackson Joins Halo Movie Team
Posted by Oscar M. Cantu Categories: Corporate News, First Person Shooters, Xbox,
During X05 it was revealed that Peter Jackson of Lord of The Rings fame has joined the team that will be bringing Master Chief to the big screen. The movie is set to hit the screens in 2007 in conjunction with a rumored Halo 3 launch. Can we expect great things from Mr. Jackson in this movie just like he did with the Lord of The Rings? We can only hope. He had this to say:
“As a gaming fan, I’m excited to bring HALO’s premise, action and settings to the screen with all the specificity and reality today’s technology can provide,” said Jackson. “Fran and I are intrigued by the unique challenges this project offers, and we’re delighted to be working again with our friends at Universal, and with our new ones at Fox and Microsoft. I’m a huge fan of the game and look forward to helping it come alive on the cinema screen.”
Read More | Spong
Half Life 2 For Xbox Screenshots
Posted by Oscar M. Cantu Categories: First Person Shooters, Screenshots, Xbox,
There are new Xbox Half Life 2 screenshots available, and the good news is that its looking as good as it possibly can on the ‘Box. Keeping in mind that the Xbox ranks in at 700 Mhz PIII with 64 MB RAM, this game is really pushing the Xbox to its full potential. Bit-tech has some more screenshots of the game running on the Xbox and claim the final version is near completion.
Read More | Bit-Tech.net
EA Announces First Arena Football Game
Posted by Jesse Easley Categories: PlayStation 2, Sports, Xbox,
EA announced on Thursday that they will be releasing a new game for the PS2 and Xbox called Arena Football. Now, there are tons of football games out for every system that has ever been in existance, but according to EA this game will be different for a few reasons. Arena Football consits of 8 on 8 gameplay and allows for checking players over the wall (much like Ice Hockey), with a field half the size of an NFL or NCAA version. That’s all the information they’ve released so far, but we’ve managed to get some screenshots from them for your viewing pleasure. Jump down to check them out!
Click to continue reading EA Announces First Arena Football Game
Burnout 3 > Burnout Revenge (Or, My Burnout Revenge Impressions)
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Driving, Features, PlayStation 2, Reviews, Xbox,
Not trying to start any riots or anything, but what the hell did EA do to the Burnout series? Burnout 3 was a nice, solid 10. It was a game that I could pick up and play with friends, and something that even my wife enjoyed - trust me, that is an accomplishment. That being said, I have been looking forward to the release of Burnout Revenge, but it seems that the series has digressed a bit from what made it great in the first place.
My biggest gripe is with the Crash Mode. EA has removed the distinct goals and obstacles which made the game fun and strategic. Gone are the multipliers, cash icons, and ever-so-frustrating (but in a good way) heartbreakers. In their place is a clunky “golf swing” mechanism used to boost your car from the get go. You need to hit the A button twice on this meter, and if you do it wrong, you stall or end up with a busted engine. It certainly takes the casual gamer a bit of getting used to, whereas with Burnout 3 you simply needed to press on the accelerator to move. Go figure!
The real goals are now gone, because you have no idea really what kind of traffic to expect. Even worse, the preview takes forever. Burnout is supposed to be about speed - so why the hell do I need a preview of the track, and then a reversed preview that I can’t hit A to skip through? I don’t! Adding to the frustration is the fact that if you are doing a multiplayer Crash Party, you no longer have the option of picking one car and having no choice but to stick with it for the entire time. You now get to preview the track, then choose a car before each crash trial.
Now, the actual racing tracks have been improved, but the edge-of-your-seat feel has been obliterated. In Burnout 3 you had to avoid every obstacle if you wanted to win. That meant you had to watch out for cars in all lanes and in cross traffic, along with other barriers like walls and such. Now, you can just boost away. If there is same-direction traffic ahead of you, you can literally hit it as hard as you want, and you won’t see a hint of destruction on your car. Half of the traffic that would have caused a ruckus on you in the previous game is now all of a sudden your friend. This is due to EA’s new “traffic checking” feature. Basically, you can now use same-direction traffic as a weapon to dish out punishment on rival racers. To me, it just makes the game a bit too easy.
Am I crazy? What do you think of the new Burnout?
Majesco Cancels $1 Million Advent Rising Contest
Posted by Alex Grahmann Categories: Corporate News, Xbox,
Majesco Entertainment has officially put an end to the “Race to Save Humanity” contest associated with the Xbox game Advent Rising. The company is citing lack of a “technically feasible solution” to fairness issues as the reason for absolving itself from having to pay what had been a $1,000,000 prize. Anyone who owns the game and feels slighted by the announcement can choose to receive two consolation titles for their pain and suffering – BloodRayne 2, Guilty Gear X2, Psychonauts, Raze’s Hell, or Phantom Dust. It’s not exactly a million bucks, but, honestly, you probably wouldn’t have won anyway.
Read More | Xbox.com
Toy Test 2005: Burnout Revenge Hands On
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Driving, PlayStation 2, Reviews, Xbox,
At Toy Test 2005 in Seattle I was able to get my hands on the newest demo of Burnout Revenge. There were quite a few more challenges available to try out than there were at E3, and I must have put a good 30-45 minutes or so into the Toy Test version. One thing that has totally impressed me about Revenge is the sense of speed that the game provides. I am a big fan of Burnout 3, and I thought that the sense of speed in that game was unmatched. Burnout Revenge, through its much improved graphics and more realistic vehicles, provides a level of speed that can only be described as insane.
The crashing challenge in Burnout Revenge is a bit different than what fans are now used to. You are graded as the crashes take place, rather than having to wait until all is said and done before seeing the final tally. The different scoring multipliers have been eliminated in Burnout Revenge, which was a bit disappointing to see. In Burnout 3 it was always ruckus when a few friends were gathered together and one person got a 4x multiplier, only to hit the Heartbreaker before the end of their turn.
During the races, you are now able to take down just about any small vehicle on the road, whether they are your competition or your traffic. This was a complaint that I had in Burnout 3, only because it was inconsistent that you could take down your opponents, but if you hit another car of similar size, you ended up in a tragic accident. Very nice to see. The other major addition to overall gameplay is that when you take down a rival, you become marked for “Revenge”. This means that driver will target you until they take you down. The same happens when you get taken out. The marker above the rival changes from yellow to red. Take them down, and you get extra points. Burnout Revenge is set to drop on September 13, 2005.
Burnout Revenge is definitely looking good - obviously the Xbox version is prettier than its PS2 counterpart, but the real loser here are those who only own the Nintendo Gamecube. You are missing a real winner here.
Gamespot: 50 Cent Interview
Posted by Oscar M. Cantu Categories: Action, PlayStation 2, Portable/Mobile, Xbox,
Gamespot has an interview with 50 Cent where he talks about his upcoming video game, Bulletproof. They also show a bit of the game along with some behind the scenes content. The game is looking very interesting, but I’ll hold my opinions off until we see a demo or the actual finalized game. If you want to be a true gangsta, be sure to have this game pre-ordered.
Read More | Gamespot
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